Seaming machine



H. M. Ross SEAMING MACHINE Filed Oct. 27. 1921 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 H. M.Ross SEAMING MACHINE md oct. 27'. 1921 4 sham-sheet 2 67 Juve/nto@ oct.2, 1923. 1,469,334

H. M'. Ross A SEAMING' MACHINE Filed Oct. 27, 1921 4 Sheets-Sheet 4Patented @et 2, 1923.

@unire-n stares Parana race.,

HUGH M. ROSS, OF WOODHAVEN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO ADRIANCE-MACHINE yWORKS, INC., OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

SEAMING MACHINE.

Application led October 27, 1921. Serial No. 510,711.

T o all lwhom it may concern:

Be it known that l, HUGH M. Ross, a citizen of the United States,residing at Woodhaven, in the county of Queens and State of New York,have invented new and useful Improvements in Seaming Machines, of whichthe following is a specification.

My invention relates to searning machines and more particularly tomachines for affixing the heads to the bodies of cans, this inventionbeing an improvement upon the apparatus disclosed in United StatesPatent No. 810,245 to Benjamin Adriance and Amos Caleson.

ln the machine shown in the said patent, the rotation of the headcarrying the tools or operation performing members is started andstopped for each seam. Under this condition, the brake band for therotating head, especially after considerable use, does not invariablystop the comparatively heavy mechanism sufficiently quickly, and. as aresult the body of the head and the cam ring which operates the toolssometimes overrun their 25 proper relative positions before the rotationof the head stops, whereby the tools are forced inwardly by the cams soas to prevent the insertion of the can or other article to be operatedupon between the tools. Furtherlnore the starting and stopping of themechanism takes considerable time and causes objectionable wear on theclutch controlling the starting and stopping of the machine.`

An object of my invent-ion is to obviate the above defects. With thisend in view, the rot-ation of the major portion of the moving mechanismin the preferred form of my 1nv vention is continuous, only the relativeInovement between the cam member or other actuating member and the restof the head being started and stopped for each seam.

Other objects, features and advantages of my invention will appear morefully 1n the 15 following detailed description and appended claims. Inorder that my invention may be more clearly understood, attention ishereby directed to the accompanying drawings forming a part of thisspecification, 1n which- F ig. 1 is a side elevation of a machinecontaining one embodiment of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a front eleva-tion of the same;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the same;

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section taken on line e5 4-4 of Fig. 2; Fig. 5 isacentral vertical'sectional view of the upper portion of the machine;

Fig. 6 is a horizontal section taken on line 6-6 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a horizontal section taken on line 7-7 of Fig. 5; and

Fig. 8 is a sectional view of details of construction. l ,A n Referringto the drawings,`in a pedestal 1 is Journaled a horizontal driving shaft2 whlch carries at its inner end two beveled gears 3 and 4, its outerend carrying' a pulley 5 whereby power is taken intothe machine and themachine driven when the clutch 6 1s thrown into operative position byits controlling lever 7 (Fig. 5). The clutch may be of any suitable typeand itis thought to be unnecessary to describe the same in detail. Thegear 3 is keyed to the shaft 2 so as to rotate therewith but the gear 4is free to rotate with respect to the shaftunless connected thereto by aclutch 8 (Fig. 5). This clutch, as shown, includes a movable clutchmember .splined to the shaft and having secured thereto a facing 9 ofhardened steel or other wear resisting material, the clut-ch facing 9being arranged to co-act with the clutch member l() of similar materialthreaded upon the hub of gear 4.

The following mechanism is employed for moving the clutch'member 8: AT-shaped lever 11 pivoted, as at 12, to the pedestal hasvconnected toits arm 13 a fork 14 projectin into an annular recess in member 8. T eopposite arm 15 of the lever llfis connected toa spring 16 which tendstomdye the lever so as to throw the movable clutchy member 8 out of meshor operative relation with the clutch member 10 on the gear 95 4. Formoving the lever 11 against the action of spring 16, a link 17 isconnected adjacent one end to the arm 18 of the said lever, the oppositeend of the link being ecnnected through a link 19 with a pedal orcontrolling member 20. As shown, the adjacent ends of the links 17 and19 are connected for a purpose hereinafter described to a rock arm 21.As shown, the upper end of the link 17 is connected to the arm 18 of thelever 11 by a spring connection 22, whereby the clutch 8 may be readilythrown into operation without jar.

After the clutch member 8 has been thrown-into operative position bydepression of the pedal 20, it 1s held in that position until theseaming operation on the cam is complete. To this end, the arm 13 oflever 11 is connected to a horizontal slide 24, the@ forward end ofwhich is provided with a laterally projecting detent portion 25 (Fig. 6)which has a rear shoulder 26 (Fig. 6) arranged to be engaged by the pin27 at the upper end of lever 28 when the clutch member 8 is in operativeposition. The lever 28 is pivoted as shown at 29 for movement about ahorizontal axis. A spring 30 tends to hold the lever 28 in operative orlatching position.

Referring mpre particularly to Fig. 5, the forwardly projecting arm 30at the top of the pedestal has secured thereto, as by screws 31, a post32 formed with a flange 33 at the lower end thereof. A disk or head 34surrounds the post 32 and is supported on the ange 33 for rotationcoaxially with respect to the said post. Fixed to the disk 34, as byscrews 35 is a beveled gear 36 which meshes with the beveled gear 3. Tothe lower end of the post 32 is secured, as by bolt 37, a block 38 whichserves both as the chuck portion of the mechanism to hold the can andhead assembled while being operated upon and as a uide for certain partshereinafter referre to. i

At spaced points around theY disk or hea 34 are arranged sets of devicesfor controlling the positioning of the operation performing members andtools. ll have shown three tools and actuating means therefor but it isunderstood that the number of tools is immaterial. Except for the toolsper se, the devices referred to are` identical, and ll shall accordinglydescribev only one of these devices.

Referring to Figs. 6,7 and 8, a lever 40 is fulcrumed in the disk, itsfulcrum Jbeing supported by a boss 41 formed thereon and which carriesa. nut 42 for holding the lever in place. The free end of this levercarries a roller 44 adapted to run in the cam groove 45 at the underface of the block 38. This groove is made to conform to the: outlines ofthe can so that when the disk or head 34 rotates the roller follows apath coinciding with the outline of the can. As shown, the

outline is rectangular, the cam groove being co-axial with the head ordisk 34. The lever 40 has pivoted thereto and intermediate its ends, as,at 46, another lever 47. The

inner end of the lever 47 carries a tool 48l which as shown is in theform of a narrow roller. The other end of the lever 47 carries a pin 481which bears against the lower arm f 49 of a lever which has a verticalpivot portion 50 extending through the head 34 and at the upper end ofwhich are lever arms 51 and 52. yThe arm 51 carries a rotatablefolrecense lower 53 which is arrangedto coact with a cam 54. Tn order topermit adjustment of' the osition of the tool with respect to the worthe pin 48, as shown, is made adjustable so that the relative positionsof the levers 47 and 49 may be variedl as required,

" the pin being threaded into the lever 47.

The various levers are held in proper re lationship with the followers53 in engagement with the cam by means of the spring or yielding bearingarranged between the levers 40 and 47 intermediate the p-ivot 46 and theinner ends of the levers. This bearing comprises, as shown,a pin 55projecting downwardly from the lever 40 and engaging with a springpressed pin 56 carried by lever 47. (See Fig. l8).

Fach of the levers 47, as stated, carries a Suitable tool. Where' threeof these tools are used, as shown, the first may be employed to effect apreliminary turning down of the projecting flange on a can cover, suchasl shown in Fig. 11 of the aforesaid Patentk 810,245, the second toperform an intermediate shaping of the edge as shown in Fig. 12 of saidpatent, and the third to finish the seam as shown in Fig. 13 of the saidpatent. The tools per se are preferably arranged under the rollers 44and take, together with the levers 47 carrying the same, their generaldirection of movement from the movement of the lever 40; but theactuation of the tools, whereby they .are caused to change*I the shapeof the metal is imparted thereto by the action of the cams 54 on thelevers coacting therewith, whereby the toollevers A 47 are shifted bythe lever arms 49,

Considering the, cam more in detail, the head or disk 34 has a ring 60mounted thereon for rotation rio-axially with the said disk or head.This ring is provided, asshown,

with three cams 54 arranged at different elevations, each of these camscoacting with one ofthe followers 53. This ring is also provided with abeveled gear 62 meshing with the gear 4. Tt is thought unnecessary to gointo detail as to the shapes of these cams but it may be statedgenerally that each of the cams is provided with a pocket portion 548,which permits the tools to be held a suicient-distance away from theaxis of the apparatus to permit the ready positioning of the can orother article to be operated kupon between t-he tools, it beingunderstood that at the'beginning and end of the formation of a 4seamon-a can all of the followers' 53 'occupy "the recessed portions 54El`of corresponding cams. The remainder of the cams are formed so as tobring the tools successively into operation and to prevent the arms 52from moving.

To effect the release of the latch 28, the. l

levers 52 are provided with upstanding proill@ ini

the movable parts connected thereto rotate f path of projection 64 (seeFig. 2) of the latch lever 28 to release the latter when the followers53 move into the recessed portionsL 54a of the cams at the end of theseaming operation.

The can or other article to be operated upon is adapted to be supportedupon a table 65 carried by a shaft 66 which is vertically movable inbearings in the pedestal 1. This shaft is prevented from rotating bymeans of an arm 67 which is secured to the shaft and has a slidingnon-rotating engagement with the pedestal. F or elevating the table soas to force the can against the chuck, the arm 2l is secured to and isadapted to' rotate about its axis, a cam member 68 which coacts with aroller 69 on a sleeve 70 slidable on a shaft 66 and carrying a spring 71by which shaft 66 and table 65 are supported by reason of the engagementof the sprin with the under surface of the member 67,. It will be seenthat by the depression of the pedal 20 not only is the clutch member 8thrown into Aoperative position but the table 65 is also elevated intooperative position. By reason of the spring 71 the arresting of themovement of the table 65 need not arrest the movement of the clutchmember 8 into operative position and gears may be so pitched that thedisk or" head 34 is rotated six times while the ring 6() is rotated fivetimes.

When the machine is at rest the tools are, as stated, in their outermostposition, the cam followers 53 being located in the recesses 54a of thecams. The machine is started by shifting lever 7 to throw the clutch 6into operation whereupon the head 34 and continuously. The clutch member8 being in its unclutched or inoperative position, the gear 4 is free tobe rotated with respect to shaft 2 by the gear 62, the ring 60 beingrotated simultaneously with the head 34 by reason of the coaction of thefollowers 53 with the recesses 54a.

A can or other varticle to be operated upon having been placed upon thetable 65, the pedal 20 is depressed whereupon the clutch member 8 isthrown into operative position causing the power to be transmitted fromthe driving shaft to the ring and the table is elevated to bring thehead of the can against thestationary chuck on member 38. At the sametime the slide 24 is moved forwardly, the latch pin 27 engaging behindthe shoulder 26 to hold the clutch member 8 and 'the tabley in operativeposition.` 'Ivhe head 34 and cam ring 6() are now being rotated withrespect toeach other so that the cams 54 act u'pon the cam followers 53to desired seam. At the end of one rotation of the head 34- with respectto the cam ring 60, the cam followers 53 will drop into the resesses54a, thepin 63 being outwardly suiiiciently far to enable the'one whichis nearest the extension 64 on the latch lever 28 to trip or releaseVthe said lever, whereupon through spring 16 the latch 24 and the clutchmember 8 are moved into inoperative position and the table 65 lowered.iThe head 34 of the machine and the 'parts carried thereby and drivingthe same continue to rotate but there is no longer any relative movementbetween the cams 54 and their followers 53; so that after removal of thecan which has been operated upon and placing a new one upon the tableupon the depression ofI the pedal, the only rotation which need beimparted to the mechanism at the top of the machine is a slight rotationbetween the disk 34 and its operating means on the one hand, and thering 60 and its operating means on the other hand. As a result, there islittle wear upon the machine in operatiomand it can be operated withconsiderable speed.

While I have described a machine adapted for forming a true or locksea-m, my invention is adapted for forming other kinds of seams and formany other uses. Furthermore, modifications may be made in the structureshown without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having described my invention, what I claim and desireto secure byLetters Patent of the United States is:

1. The combination of'a plurality of rotatable members, operationperforming means carried by one member and means for actuating saidoperation performing means carried by the other member, driving meansfor rotating one of said members, power transmitting means for rotatingthe other member relatively to said first-named member, said powertransmitting means being arranged to be operatively connected to ordisconnected from said driving means, latching means for retaining saidpower transmitting means connected to `said driving means, and automaticmeans including a device carried by one of said members for renderingsaid latching means inoperative,

2. The combination of a plurality of coaxial rotatable members, drivingmeans for rotating one of said members, power transmitting means forrotating the other member relatively to said first-,named member, saidpower transmitting means being arranged to be operatively connected toor disconmeans connected to said driving means, andl to be operativelyconnected to or disconf nected` .from said driving means, latching meansfor retaining said power transmltting means connected to Said dr1v1ngmeans,

and automatic means'including a device carried by one of said membersfor rendering said latching means inoperative. y

4. rllhe combination of coaxial rotatable members, driving means forrotating one of said members, power transmitting means for rotating theother member relatively to said first named member, controlling meanscoacting with said power transmitting means to operatively connect thesame to or disconnect the same from said driving means, and automaticmeans including a releasing device carried by one of said members foroperating said controlling means when said members reach predeterminedrelative positions.

5. The combination of a plurality of coa'Xial rotatable members,operation performingv means carried by one member, a cam for actuatino'said operation performing means carried by theother member, drivingmeans for rotating one of said members, power transmitting means forrotating the other member relatively to said first-named member, saidpower transmitting means being arranged to be operatively connected toor disconnected from said driving means, means for retaining said powertransmitting means connected to said driving means, and automatic meansincludin a device carried byv one of said members or rendering saidretaining means inoperative.

6. The combination of 'a plurality of coaxial rotatable members, drivingmeans for rotating one of said members, power transmitting means forrotating the other memi ber relatively to said irstnamed member,

disconnected from said power transmitting means being arranged to beoperatively connected to or said driving means, means tending tomaintain the same dis.- connccted fromsaid driving means, meanslatcliing the same connected to said driving means, and automatic meansincluding an arm carried by oneof said members for releasing thelatching means when said memf bers reach predetermined relativepositions.

7. The combination of a plurality ofcoaxial rotatabl members, drivingmeans for rotating one of said members, power transmittlng means forrotating the other memrecense ber relatively to said first-named member,said power transmitting means being arranged to be operatively connectedto or disconnected from said driving means, 'means tending to maintainthe same disconnected from said driving means, a latch adapted to holdthe same Vconnected to said driving means, means for setting said latch,and automatic means including a device carried by one of said membersfor releasing the latch when said members reach predetermined relativepositions.

8. The combination of a plurality of movable members, a cam on one ofsaid members, an operation performing device carried by the other memberand movable by said cam, means for rotating one of said members and formoving the other member relatively to said first-named membeigsaid meansincluding driving means -for one of said members and means adapted to beoperatively connected to or disconnected from said driving means, meanstending to maintain said last named means disconnected from said drivingmeans, a latch adapted to hold the same ,connected to said drivingmeans, means for setting said latch and automatic means including meanscarried by one of said mem bers for releasing the latchv when said de-,vice and cam reach predetermined relative positions.

9. 'llhe combination of la plurality of con-y centric rotatable members,a cam on one of said members, an operation performing device carried bythe other member and movable by said cam, meansfor rotating oneJ of saidmembers and for rotating the other member relatively to the same, saidmeans including driving means for one of said members and means adaptedto be operatively connected to or disconnected from said drivlngmeanspmeanstending to maintainv axial rotatable members, drivingmeansincluding a horizontal driving shaft for. rotating one of saidmembers, a gear on said shaft in driving relation to the other member,

means whereby said gear may be operatively V connected to said drivingmeans to rotate the 10. The combination of a plurality of co iae membercoacting therewithrelatively to the other member, and automaticreleasing means carried b said members for rendering said connectlngmeans inoperative when said members reach predetermined relativepositions. i

l1. The combination of a plurality of eoaxial rotatable members, a camon one of said members, a follower onthe other'mlem litt@ ber coactingwith said cam, driving means including a horizontal driving shaft forro- -mined relative positions.

12. The combination of a plurality of coaxial rotatable members, a camon one of said members, a follower on the other member coacting withsaid cam, an operation performing device movable by said follower,driving rreans for rotatin one of said members, a gear in drivingrelation to the other member, means whereby said gear may be operativelyconnected to said driving means to rotate the member coacting therewithrelatively to the other member, and automatic releasing means carried bysaid members for rendering said connecting means inoperative when saidcam and followers reach predetermined relative positions.

13. The combination ,of means for `holding an article, operationperforming means, means for actuating the latter, including a cam forcontrolling the movement of said operation performing means inaccordance with the outline of the article and a second cam coaxial withsaid first-named cam for controlling the operating movement of saidoperation performing means, driving mechanism for effecting a relativemovement between two of said means, power transmitting means connectedwith said driving mechanism for eectinga relative movement between thethird means and one of the other means, and means for disconnecting saidpower transmitting means from said driving mechanism.

14. The combination of means for holding an article, operationperforming means, means fo-r actuating the latter, including a cam forcontrolling the movement of said operation performing meansvinaccordance with the outline of the article and a second cam coaxial withsaid first-named cam for controlling the operating movement of saidoperation performing means, driving means for effecting a relativemovement between said holding means and said operation performing means,power transmitting means including a clutch for effecting a relativemovement between said operation performing means and actuating means,and means for disconnecting said clutch.

15. The combination of means for holding an article, operationperforming means, means for actuating the latter, including'a cam forcontrolling the movement of said operation performing means inaccordance with the outline of the article and a second cam coaxial withsaid Afirst-named cam for contrf'olling the operating movement of saidoperation performing means, driving means for effecting a relativemovement between said holding means and said operation performing means,power transmitting means including a clutch connected with ,Said drivingmeans for effecting a relative movement between said operationperforming means and actuating means, means for moving said vclutch intooperative position and automatic releasing means controlled by saidoperation performing means for moving the clutch out of operativeposition when/ said operation performing means and actuatingY means havereached rpredetermined relative positions. v

16. The combination of a ,plurality of coaxial members, operationperforming means carried by one of said members, a cam for controllingthe movement of said operation performing means in accordance with theoutline of the article operated up-on, a second cam coaxial with saidfirstnamed cam and carried by the other member for controlling theoperating movement of said operation performing means, a work support,driving means for one of said members, means including a clutch foreffecting a relative movement between said members to cause said cams toactuate said operation. performing means, and means having a singlecontrolling member for 'shifting said clutch and effecting between saidsupport and operation performing means a relative movement with respectto their operative positions.

17. The combination of a plurality of coaxial members, operationperforming means carried by one of said members, a cam for controllingthe movement of said operation performing means in accordance' with theoutline of the article operated upon, a second cam coaxial with saidfirstnamed cam and carried by the other member for controlling theoperating movement of said operation performing means, a work support,drivingr means for one of said members, means including a clutch foreffecting a relative movement between said members to cause said cams toactuate said operation coincidence lwith the contour of the article,

fand other means coacting with said lever for actuating said tool, saidlast-,named means including a cam, a lei-eri actuated thereby, meanstending to hold said levers in engagement with each other, and means foradjusting the relative positions of said levers. 19. The combinationwith means for holding an article to be operated upon, of a lever, a`tool on said lever adapted to operate on the article, means including acam and a lever for guiding said first-named lever to inove said toolinto approximate coincidence with the contour of the article, meansincluding another cam and a follower coacting therewith and with saidErst-named lever for actuating said tool, and means arranged betweensaid levers and tending to yieldingly hold said follower inengagementwith said cani.

lin testimony whereof, ll have signed my name tol this specification.

HUGH M. ROSS.

